Waukesha city parks win national recognition
After coming in as a finalist - but not a winner - last year, the Waukesha Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department has been named a winner of the 2011 national Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.
The winners were announced this week by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association.
Waukesha received the citation for communities with populations of 50,000 to 100,000. Other winners were Portland, Ore., for cities of 250,000 or more; the City of Lakewood, Colo., for communities of 100,000 to 250,000; the Town of Parker, Colo., for communities of 25,000 to 100,000; and the City of Fairfax, Va., for places under 25,000 population.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources won the every-other-year award for state agencies.
The Gold Medal Awards program was founded in 1965 and honors communities with excellent long-range planning, resource management, volunteerism, environmental stewardship, program development, professional development and agency recognition.
Note: the headline on an earlier posting incorrectly said Waukesha County parks were honored.